Experts believe that Ukraine needs to establish a legal framework for conducting elections during wartime.

“We need to strike a balance between upholding democratic principles and addressing the realities of wartime. If we do not start working on the corresponding legislation now, we may find ourselves in a situation in the future where elections become necessary, but the legal framework for this is either lacking or flawed,” said Yuri Goncharenko, head of the research and analytical group InfoLight.UA.

Experts note that preparing a legislative framework does not imply the immediate holding of elections; rather, it is about creating a contingency plan and ensuring readiness for various scenarios. Such preparation should include the development of mechanisms to safeguard electoral rights for different categories of citizens—military personnel, internally displaced persons, citizens in occupied territories, and refugees.

According to the roundtable participants, there are currently no clear predictions on how long the war will last, and it is quite possible that in a year or two, the conditions for holding elections will be even more challenging than they are now. Therefore, developing the appropriate legislative framework will help avoid haste and mistakes in the future if holding elections becomes unavoidable.

Political expert Vladimir Sonyuk believes that “the need for presidential and parliamentary elections has long been overdue, and their delay is leading Ukraine towards defeat in the war and threatening the preservation of the Ukrainian nation and statehood as a whole.” “Arguments about the impossibility of conducting elections properly during wartime do not hold up to scrutiny,” he is convinced.

An analysis of public sentiment indicates that the majority of Ukrainians oppose holding elections during wartime; however, the founder of the sociological company Active Group, Andrey Yeremenko, noted a growing demand for their conduct. “We are observing a gradual increase in public demand for elections during martial law,” he stated, adding that this is linked to a gradual decline in trust in the current government.
According to the event participants, working on creating a legislative framework for holding elections in a state of martial law is necessary, despite all the complexities and risks, but this does not mean that elections should be held immediately.